Suffer No Evil
by A Dyslexic Writer
Summary: 'I have to think of my Clan.' 'I am too weak.' 'It is tradition.' 'It's how the world works.' 'It wasn't my fight.' 'I had no choice.' The words they spoke in order to hide away from the evils that plague their lives. The ones done onto them, and the ones that they themselves committed. Glory City had been built on these lies. Too bad Ichigo was never one to tolerate bull****.
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing and am not making any profit. This is just for fun. (Is patrion sponsorship against copyright laws? I don't do it I just want to know.)**

* * *

Hell.

By all depictions, it is the most vile place one can imagine. A world of suffering, fear, and hopelessness. The horrifying reward granted to those who commit unspeakable crimes within life.

Hell was evil incarnate.

Or was it?

Kurosaki Ichigo wasn't sure how long he had spent in that pit of despair, how long it had been since he had entered hell to save his younger sister, though it couldn't have been more than a few short months, two years tops. The chains of Hell had dug into him and had not let go. It sucked, but what was he to do?

He had helped the Soul Reapers hold the Gate of Hell until it was repaired. After that, the Soul Society Elites elected to abandoned him to his fate… but he didn't really blame them. The fate of his one soul was nothing when compared to the consequences involved in trying to cheat Hell out of something it had decided to keep. While he had been more than willing to throw that bit of rationality to the wind in order to save his sister and friends, he didn't place such a high value on his own soul.

Besides, Hell hadn't been interested in keeping them. Not like it was with Ichigo.

Since then, Ichigo had started to gain an understanding of Hell. It was as if the world itself was teaching him, sending the knowledge of its purpose to him through the chains that it had been bound to his soul.

Hell was not truly evil. It was necessary. Just like all things that existed, it held a logic to it. A purpose.

Without Hell, the souls of the sinners would reenter the cycle of reincarnation too soon, the darker energy, brought about by their crimes, still latched on to their souls. While the torturing of the soul who ended up there might have been extreme, it was all in order to ring out the Yin forces which had been bound to their souls so that they could once again reach a level of purity needed for reincarnation. It had to be this way, or else the balance between Yin and Yang would be undone and the worlds would slowly collapse under the weight of all the accumulated negative energy. Hell needed to be a dark place in order to contain the darkness.

Hell was an instrument of the natural order of things which followed a very simple law.

"Only evil can contain evil, and evil must be contained." Ichigo mumbled to himself as he stared across Hell's landscape, watching the Guardians chasing down the sinners in order to feed upon their Yin energy. The Guardians never bothered Ichigo. Not since the chains of hell had embedded themselves into his soul. If anything, they seem to recognize Ichigo as one of their own. "Why am I even still here? You've made it painfully obvious that you don't intend to suck me dry." The orange haired teen asked as he lifted up his arms, staring down at the short black chains that seemed to grow out of them. As usual, the black iron chains did not answer, annoying Ichigo more than a little bit.

He couldn't understand why he was giving special treatment. Why the monsters of Hell didn't try to rip him apart anymore, or why the dark world seemed to be trying to teach him things.

Knowledge flowed through him. Not just knowledge about Hell, but also about the nature of the soul. Knowledge of magic, the ways of Destruction and Binding. Knowledge of the Quincies and his own Quincy nature. Knowledge of the innate souls within physical objects. Knowledge about the formation of the ones Soul Sleep and the purpose of their Soul Chain. Knowledge of the various worlds connected through the cycle of reincarnation, not just the Human World, Soul Society and Hueco Mundo, but other worlds that Ichigo had never even known existed.

But even if it taught him all of these things, it never gave him any idea as to why it was doing it. It was like it was trying to prepare him for something.

Lying down on his back Ichigo lifted his right arm, his eyes wondering over the black metal chain that seemed to be growing out from underneath his skin. He could feel the power of Hell which was contained within it. It was inviting him, offering him the chance to tame its power, the same way it had before, if he would only yield to its reasoning.

The offer had stood for months and while Ichigo had yet to flat out rebel against it, he was still hesitant. He understood Hell. He understood its reason for existence and why it was the way it was, but… it didn't feel right. Something was off, Ichigo couldn't put his finger on what it was, but there was something about it that he just could not accept.

Hell was patent though. It didn't need to rush to convince him.

It had all of eternity.

"And what are you doing to do when I finally do give in? I see no point so long as I am here." Ichigo said, speaking out to the premarital consciousness of Hell.

A sort of tension passed through the chains causing them to rattle slightly, giving Ichigo the impression that they themselves were considering his words and hadn't really thought about it. The rattling grew and grew until it suddenly stopped all together.

Then, much to the boy's shock, the blacken chains irrupted in golden fire.

"The Hell!" Ichigo shouted, jumping away and trying to beat out the flames as they spread from the chains onto his body. There was no pain as the golden fire burned brighter and brighter, and Ichigo realized what was going on. Hell's response to his inquiry.

He was being thrown back into the sea of reincarnation, with his memories still intact, and the Chains of Hell still attached to his soul.

* * *

Jian Yue's life was like one of the fairy tales that mothers would tell their daughter's in Glory City.

As a daughter of the lower class, she had been born as one of the one in a hundred thousand individuals with a genius level talent. Her green soul sea had distinguished her from her peers and with a little hard work she had quickly become a Demon Spirituals. Because of her talent, she ended up attracting the eye of one of the seven Noble Families of Glory City, the Winged Dragon Clan, marrying one of the Clan's heirs. All the other girls had told her how lucky she was.

She didn't feel lucky.

Jian Yue was only fourteen years old and had just become a Four Star Bronze Rank, earning her a reputation as a super genius, when the Winged Dragon Clan had approached her parents. Her mother and father had agreed to the marriage proposal. Of course they did. They lived on the Winged Dragon Clan's land and could only keep their small restaurant open by their blessings. They had not liked the idea of giving up their talented daughter, but they had no chose.

Xiao Yunfeng, her husband, was a handsome man, tall with dense brown hair and striking features, but he was over thirty-years-old, and in their time married, she wouldn't have called him a loving husband. His marriage to her was a political move, as any talented children she bore him would improve his own claim for the title of Clan Patriarch against his three brothers. He was not a cruel man, but in his eyes, she was just a baby maker, and only as good as the children she would give him.

As she had become a noble lady, she was no longer able to see her old friends and family, but at the same time, she was not seen as the equal of the girls who had been born in the noble class either. They didn't bother to hide the snide comments about her upbringing. The only friends she had were the servants who worked for the Clan, and they could only be friendly to her when no one was looking.

Her life was just like those fairy tales that they would tell. She was just like the princess trapped in the tower.

However, she did have one thing.

Jian Yue had always loved children, and it wasn't long after her marriage that she had become pregnant for the first time and gave birth to a child of her very own.

Xiao Ichigo was her precious child. The little baby boy's ginger hair was the same bright color as his mother's, and he shared her golden eyes as well. She had loved him from the moment she set eyes on him. The feel of his gentle touch as she held him made her feel happier than she had felt since she had been invited to join the genius class at her school, before she was forced to leave to be Xiao Yunfeng's wife.

Though on this day, even the soothing presence of her little one couldn't squelch the anxiety she was feeling.

Xiao Lin, the Patriarch of the Winged Dragon Clan and his four sons had summoned her to the main hall. The Elders from the rest of the branch families had also been gathered to see the event.

"As with tradition we will now test the talent of this child born to the main family, too see what kind of feature his life may hold and see if he will be the one to lead our Winged Dragon Clan to new heights." Xiao Lin said, his voice projecting out over the gathered individuals. He gestured to a servant who then walked forward into the center of the room to were Jian Yue was standing with the baby Xiao Ichigo in her arms. The servant drew out a large soul crystal and carefully held it out to the child, inviting the three-month-old boy to grab a hold of it. Ichigo grabbed onto the crystal, not knowing what it was, and held onto it with his tiny arms.

Murmurs filled the room as the crystal began to glow. A murky black and crimson red flame started to form in the center of the crystal.

"A red soul sea. How unfortunate." Xiao Lin declared to gathered individuals. "It does not seem as though this child is a worthy heir to the Winged Dragon Clan."

"Hmph, what did you expect with such a common woman as the mother." Xiao Yi said, barely hiding a smirk towards his brother as he took pleasure in seeing that his rival's child was no threat at all. Xiao Yunfeng himself looked disappointed.

The color of one's soul sea was supposed to represent their talent in cultivating the power of their soul. Going from lowest to highest potential was red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, azure, purple. For a noble family who prided itself on producing strong Demon Spiritualists, having a son with a red soul sea was the height of embarrassment.

"Enough. Xiao Yunfeng, you will need to try again. Perhaps the next child will not be such a disappointment." Xiao Lin declared.

"Yes." Xiao Yunfeng said, bowing his head to his father as the gathered people left, some laughing at the man's misfortune. Xiao Yunfeng barely gave his wife and son a glance before leaving the room himself, but the look of disappointment struck Jian Yue's heart. He had rejected her son. More than likely, he would never give the boy another thought. Such was the way of the Noble Clans. Any child who could not become a Demon Spiritualist would be swept aside. The Clan resources would only go to the strong. She had heard rumors in school of the kind of bullying that happened within even aristocratic clans for children who lacked talent.

Her sad eyes moved from her husband down to her child and seeing his confused expression, she couldn't help but to smile. "Don't worry. No matter what kind of talent you have, you will always be by child. I will always be proud of you." Jian Yue said as she reached out and took the Soul Crystal from the baby's arms.

The moment she took it, she almost dropped it in shock. While the Elders of the clan had only sought to confirm the color of the boy's soul sea, they hadn't stopped to consider its strength. As a baby, the boy's Spirit Power would surely had been 1 or 2. But as Jian Yue held the Soul Crystal in her hand, she was able to judge the strength of her child's soul sea, and she could hardly believe the result.

358!

He was just a new born baby, but he had already reached the level of a Three Star Bronze Demon Spiritualist. Jian Yue couldn't believe it. Not even in the most absurd legends ever told did any child have so much raw power so early in life. Genius wasn't a strong enough word. A genius would have reached that level of cultivation at the age of fifteen. Even the word legendary seemed inadequate. Her child was a true miracle. A gift from Heaven.

Wonder and pride filled the young mother's chest… quickly replaced by a feeling of dread.

If the Winged Dragon Clan ever found out about the child's unbelievable talent, then he would surely be elevated into being the most important individual in the entire clan… no, in the entirety of Glory City. The political game surrounding him would be a nightmare and they would doubtless try to have him taken away and trained, either to reach his full potential or so that he could be manipulated and controlled.

They would try to turn him into a weapon to be wielded against Glory City's enemies, or to conquer the city for themselves. The Dark Guild would surely seek to take his life. The City Lord using it as an excuse to steal him away. Ichigo would be taken away from her as surely as she was taken away from her own parents.

Jian Yue slipped the crystal away, out of sight of others before smiling down at her precious child. "Don't worry my little angel. No one will ever take you away from me. You will remain mommy's little miracle." She said as she left the room, hardly controlling the spring in her step.

* * *

A seven-year-old Ichigo held his breath in an attempt to steady his hands as carefully drew his inscriptions using the modified fountain pen. The hiss of the demon blood against hot metal accompanied the off-putting smells that filled any forge that could have been found inside of Glory City.

Regardless of his noble birth, Ichigo was treated as though he didn't even exist by most members of the Winged Dragon Clan, which suited him just fine. They didn't both him and he did as he pleased. The servants never minded his presence and let him do whatever he wanted, including using the old kitchen as a make shift forge to work metal and perform experiments with making Spirit Inscription. The fair-sized room was covered in books from the clan's collection, loose pages of his own scribbled notes and calculations, and various second-hand tools he had acquired over the last two years. All and all, it was kind of a mess.

"Done." Ichigo said as he put the finishing touches on the last piece he needed for his little pet project.

 _"It's about time! Now hurry it up and put me in!"_ The familiar frustrated voice of Zangetsu said, his words echoing in the back of the reincarnated reaper's mind.

"Shut up, this wasn't easy you know." Ichigo snapped back as he took the final piece and pressed it into its place on the back of what looked like a dog made entirely out of metal, with a special white paint on top of it to protect the inscriptions from being damaged. "Now I just need to put you in."

Ichigo picked up a small clear marble off of the table, holding it tight in the palm of his hand. It was a Demon Crystal Stone, one holding the soul of a Demon Beast called a Spinney Hound.

This new world that Ichigo found himself in was populated by a number of creatures commonly referred to as Demon Beasts. A demon beast was any kind of plant or animal that made use of Spiritual power through the formation of a Demon Crystal that grew somewhere inside of the Demon Beast's body. After a Demon Beast died, its soul reminded behind inside of the Demon Crystal Stone, after which a human could absorb that Demon Beast's soul into their own Soul Sea, what the Soul Reapers called a Soul Sleep, and gain access to that Demon Beast's power. Any human capable of doing this was called a Demon Spiritualists.

Ichigo was not about to absorb the Spinney Hound's soul. For one thing it wasn't really fit for fighting. While it was technically a Demon Beast, that was only because of its ability to form a Demon Crystal. It had no abilities or strengths that could be absorbed. It was a domesticated animal, being a sort of house pet that was good with kids, then after it died, they could harvest the crystals and blood to be used for extremely low-level Spirit Inscriptions. Since there were so many of these kinds of crystals, and they were so weak, they ended up being cheap as dirt. Useful for someone like Ichigo who was working off of a seven-year-old's allowance.

Closing his eyes, Ichigo started to channel his own spiritual energy into the crystal, but rather than absorbing the soul, he merely gave it the boot. The clear stone shone dark black and red as the more hollow aspect of Ichigo's power took up residence within the stone, taking a far sized chunk of Ichigo's strength along for the ride. Then, finally finished, Ichigo inserted the stone into a small cavity in the mechanical dog's chest.

The dog's joints all glowed with the same dark spiritual energy as Zangetsu spread out his power, using the inscriptions to form pseudo muscles out of spiritual energy that had been spun into treads. The round eyes spun in their sockets before the yellow stones that made up the artifice eye's equivalent of an iris pointed forward.

The mechanical monstrosity slowly leached awkwardly upwards onto its feet before giving itself a sort of full body shake, like one would have expected from a dog who had just woken up. Then, taking his first steps forward, Zangetsu slipped, fell off of the table and crashed to a heap on the floor.

 _"The fuck is this! These fake nerves are so damn disorienting! I feel like I'm going to hurl, and I don't even have a stomach!"_ Zangetsu complained. Ichigo let out of snort.

 _"You will get used to it in a bit."_ The Old Man who had represented Ichigo's Quincy powers in his old life said as he lay in a relaxed stance of to the side in an almost identical mechanical dog, though this one had been painted black and had blue crystal stones for eyes.

 _"Oh I'm sure you are just loving this, aren't you Old Man!?"_ Zangetsu growled, seeming to have already started to adopt his new persona as a mad dog. To his credit, the Old Man didn't respond to Zangetsu's jibs, even though the Zanpakuto spirit had been laughing his ass off a mere hour pervious when it had been the Old Man who had been struggling to gain some kind of purchase inside of the artifice body.

"I don't want to hear any complaining out of either of you! It was hard as Hell to make those sensory organs. I should have just left you blind and deaf." Ichigo said as he climbed up into a seat and started to roll out his shoulders.

Ichigo had gotten the idea for making the mechanical dogs from stories about Soul Puppets. Mechanical bodies that Demon Spirituals could have their souls sealed inside, allowing them to continue the fight long after they had perished in battle.

Unfortunately, people saw such means as abominations, and just like with Mod Souls, all Soul Puppets were destroyed, along with all records of how to make them. Now over two thousand years later, when people lived in constant fear of the next Demon Beast Hord and things like Soul Puppets could have been seen as a possible answer to the city's increasingly dire military problems, no one knew how to make them. Ichigo had been forced to start from scratch, and what he had made would hardly be called battle ready.

It had only taken about a day to figure out how to make fake muscles using Spirit Inscriptions, however making anything that could act like an eye or ear so that Zangetsu and the Old Man could navigate the world while inside of the fake bodies was much much harder, taking entire months of nearly sleepless nights spent researching Spirit Inscriptions. Lucky, he hadn't needed to sleep, as his excess spiritual power was enough to keep him going. He wondered what Uruhara would have thought, seeing him slaving away at the project.

Damned Hat-n-Clogs probably would have been able to do it in a few hours.

 _"How do you feel, Ichigo?"_ The Old Man asked.

"Like someone lifted a huge strain off of my chest." Ichigo admitted.

The Old Man nodded in understanding. _"Your spiritual power has been returning more quickly than your young body has been able to keep up with, but now Zangetsu and I should be able to drain away most of it without either damaging your body or drawing undue attention to you. A temporary solution, until your body grows into its power."_

Zangetsu had managed to pull himself up again and take a few steps before tripping again and tumbling to the ground. The Zanpakuto spirit let out a growl of rang and started to thresh about.

"Hey, careful! If you break that, I'm not making you another one!" Ichigo shouted at the riving spirit.

 _"Fuck you King! If it breaks it's your own damn fault for using such cheap materials!"_ Zangetsu shouted back as he got back up.

"Well sorry for being on a tight budget." Ichigo grumbled. Most of the metal he had used was from scrap of cast iron kitchen pots that wouldn't stand up to heavy hits, the blood came from second rate demons and didn't have the ware resistant qualities of higher grade stuff and had no elemental attributes. The only thing he could really be grateful for was that one Demon Crystal Stone was just as good as another once you ignore what kind of soul it had been carrying. So, while the Spinney Hounds were far too weak to have even been called Bronze rank, Zangetsu and the Old Man could both be counted in the Gold rank ranges when it came to raw Soul Power, which would only grow as Ichigo himself grew.

 _"Do not worry, Ichigo. These forms serve their purpose."_ The Old Man said calmly.

Zangetsu scoffed. _"Yeah, you would say that. You're not a real Zanpakuto spirit. I'm supposed to be a weapon, not a kid's play thing. How long is it going to take you to make me a proper sword to reside in?"_

"Don't hold your breath." Ichigo said with a sigh. "I have no clue how to make a Zanpakuto or any kind of equivalent. I'll keep looking around, but the secret to how to make Soul Weapons was lost to this land thousands of years ago."

Ichigo had stumbled upon mentions about Soul Weapons when he was looking into possibilities for any sword he could wield in the future. They were supposed to be weapons that merge with the wielder's Soul Sea, becoming part of it and growing as the user grows. Sadly, because the method of creating them was lost to time and because when a wielder dies the Soul Weapons disappear with them, Ichigo wasn't likely to ever find one.

All alternatives weren't all that great either.

While a Black Gold grade sword was all well and good, even the best of them might as well have been a hung of wood when compared to Zangetsu. Not that he himself was ever going to get his hands on one. There were probably only a few dozen Black Gold grade weapons in Glory City, and no one had been able to make anything above a Silver grade weapon since the collapse of the previous empire just over a thousand years ago. Black Gold weapons were valuable relics that cost more than a mansion.

Fifty million spirit coins, or approximately eighty billion yen, for a single one hand sword. An absolutely staggering amount of money.

"I suppose I'm going to have to figure out a way around that too." Ichigo said, rubbing his knuckles over his eyes. Making the Soul Puppets was one thing, all they really were was pieces of metal connected by spirit strings. Something that the Old Man's knowledge of Quincy skills had been a huge help with. Hardly rocket science.

Figuring out how to mix metal alloys with feudal era technology, which he knew precisely jack shit about. Not to mention which kinds of inscriptions would be of use as reinforcements. Since no one alive knew the proper mixtures or inscriptions to use, that would mean Ichigo himself would have to figure it out through trial and error. Something that could take hundreds of years.

He could make a sword by condensing spiritual particles, using his spiritual pressure, but doing so would be an unnecessary drain on his spirit energy and concentration in a fight, and would be worse than even a Silver grade weapon anyways.

Ichigo was dragged out of his thoughts when a very familiar shout came echoing from down the hall. One that brought a smile to his face. "Big brother, we're home!"

It wasn't long before that rapid pattering of feet against the floorboards could be heard and the door to Ichigo's make shift mad laboratory was thrown open to reveal the wide smiling face of his little sister.

"Welcome home, Ning'er. How was…" Ichigo started, but before he could finish the sentence, the five-year-old girl gave a squeal of delight.

"Doggies!" She shouted, moving across the room with surprising speed and throwing herself at Zangetsu, who had just gotten the hang of walking around. The Zanpakuto spirit gave a yelp of surprise as the girl tackled him to the ground. "It's so cute! Can I have this one big brother, can I!? Please!" Ning'er asked, looking up at her big brother.

Xiao Ning'er was an adorable kid. Her long bright orange hair came down to her waist and was always in a slight bit of disarray from the way she preferred to run everywhere rather than walking, and her large smile and large golden eyes seemed to brighten up the room, an effect that was amplified by the bright reds and yellows that she usually wore on a daily basis. She was a sweet little girl in the same manner that Yuzu had been, if a little bit more aggressive. Seeing her with her arms around Zangetsu's neck, the Zanpakuto turned dog crying out in panic, Ichigo couldn't help but laugh.

It seemed far less funny when he himself was attacked by the older model.

"My goodness. Ichigo did you make these?" Jian Yue asked when she too entered the room after her daughter. She giggled aloud before grabbing onto Ichigo and pulling him into a huge. "Oh, that's my little genius!"

When Ichigo had first been reborn, the sight of his mother had been a huge shock, and she looked like she could have been Orihime's twin sister, with her beautiful slender body and large breasts, coupled with her ginger hair and happy golden-brown eyes, and she only became more beautiful as she reached her early twenties. The embarrassment from having been self-aware during the time in which he was being breast fed as a child had stuck with Ichigo into his later years. Now every time his mother hugged him, he couldn't help but break out into a blush. Something that the woman enjoyed so much that it only made her squeeze him all the harder. And considering she was a Four Star Silver fighter now, and her hugs could have snapped small trees in half…

"Mom… can't breathe." Ichigo gasped.

"Oops." Jian Yue said, letting go of her son. "Sorry, your mother forgets her strength sometimes." She rubbed the back of her head as she laughed an innocent and scatterbrained laugh, making the comparison between her and Orihime even more apt. "So, have you named them yet?"

"…Yeah." Ichigo said as he regained the flow of air to his brain. "The black one is called Old Man, and the white one is Horse."

 _"Fuck you King!"_ Zangetsu shouted from his compromising position of being pinned down by a five-year-old girl. Not that anyone but Ichigo could hear him. Ichigo had played around with the idea of speakers, but the proto types he made ended up sounding my police sirens and he had quickly disposed of them. It wasn't like Zangetsu and the Old man needed to talk to anyone but him anyways, and they could do that through his soul.

"He's not a horse silly! He's a doggie!" Ning'er laughed.

"Hm, so he is." Ichigo said.

"Well… since one is black and the other is white, why not call them Yin and Yang?" Jian Yue suggested.

 _"She wants to call me Yang? You couldn't pick a less appropriate name if you tried."_ Zangetsu snorted. Even the Old Man's head raised at the name suggestion, probably because Yin was a feminine name.

"I like it!" Ning'er said proudly.

Ichigo chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, you two heard the girl. Yin and Yang it is."

 _"Please tell me your shitting me."_ Zangetsu said, shoulders falling, followed by the rest of him.

 _"*sigh* I suppose its better than simply being called Old Man all the time."_ The newly dubbed Yin said as he relaxed himself again. It was a new life. A peaceful one.

For now, anyways.

* * *

 **You all know the drill by now. I've been gone a long while because I started up a new medication trial and lost all interest in the world.**

 **A Bleach/Tales of Gods and Demons crossover is actually something that an oddly large number of people have been asking me to do. So I figured it could be something to get me back into the swing of things. Maybe after this I'll finally finish that one chapter of the Soul Land crossover I've been meaning to finish for who knows how long.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Careful. Hold tight now… and… flip…" Jian Yue said as she stood behind her little girl with her arms wrapped around her, helping Ning'er flip the contents of the frying pan as they made breakfast together. It was to be Ning'er favorite, pancakes with dried peach slices cooked inside. The six-year-old girl had to stand on one of the kitchen chairs in order to reach the above the stove and looked adorable in her tiny apron.

It was some of the happiest moments the mother had, sharing her love for cooking with her baby girl, the same way her own mother had with her when she was a child.

In those days, her mother would always tell her that one day she would find a man that she loved and that the best way to win his heart would be through his stomach. Because of that she had practiced cooking every day, preparing little gift meals for her friends as practice for the day when she would choose her man. Sadly, rather than being able to choose the man she loved, the choice was made for her. Xiao Yunfeng had rarely ever tasted her cooking, and he hadn't sung its praise the way her father and friends had when she had cooked for them as a little girl.

Jian Yue didn't hate her husband, but she had been fourteen when they got married and he hadn't fit with any of her school girl fantasies.

Her husband didn't regularly join them for meals. He was always busying himself with speaking to city officials and representatives from other clans or trying to further his own cultivation. The Clan Patriarch wasn't getting any younger, and he had yet to name who would be the next Clan Patriarch.

With the birth of Xiao Ning'er, Xiao Yunfeng had scored points within his Clan by having the child with the highest potential, Ning'er green soul sea marking her as a rare genius level talent, just like her mother. But when it came to personal achievements, the four brothers were fairly evenly matched. If any of them managed to achieve the Black Gold rank, then they would win the title for sure.

Not that any of them seemed likely to make it. Each was already into their thirties, if not forties, and had at best only managed to obtain the rank of Two Star Gold Demon Spiritualist. This was actually a serious matter of concern within the Clan.

In Glory City, a clan's importance is considered to be relative to how strong and many Demon Spiritualists they can produce. The power of a Demon Spiritualist was divided into levels going Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black Gold and then finally Legendary, with each level divided in 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, 4-star and 5-star. If a clan has even a single Gold rank specialist, then they can be considered an Aristocratic family. If they have a Black Gold individual within their clan, then they become a Noble Clan. If the Clan produces three Black Gold specialists at the same time, or a Legendary rank specialist, then they become a Major Clan.

It wasn't as easy as it sounded. Black Gold experts were rare. Demon Spiritualists themselves were uncommon, with only a few thousand of the tens of millions of people in Glory City capable of becoming one. There were less than two dozen Black Gold rank Demon Spiritualists in the entire city and only a single Legendary rank Demon Spiritualist had appeared in the past two hundred years.

The Winged Dragon Clan is considered to be one of the seven Noble Clans, but only based upon the connections and wealth from the past. In the last two generations, the clan had not seen even a single Black Gold rank specialist, which has led to the fear of losing that noble status. It was a fear that completely consumed the Elders' every waking moment and influenced everything they did. Trying hard for your Clan was honorable, but Jian Yue couldn't help but think that these people were obsessed. Becoming a Demon Spiritualist is supposed to be about fighting to protect the city, not noble titles. But the people of the Winged Dragon Clan were far more concerned about the Clan's standings than they were about the actual fight to protect the city, though she suspected that they weren't the only Clan to do so.

It was funny how they were all so obsessed with creating a top tier Demon Spiritualist that they completely ignored Xiao Ichigo, who surpassed his forty-year-old father in terms of raw Soul Power when he was only seven. Jian Yue watched year after year as her little boy's strength continued to grow, even though he didn't seem to practice any of the complex meditation that the other Demon Spiritualists did.

Jian Yue had expected that once his Soul Power reached the Silver grade that it would have stopped growing, or at least slowed down. Without merging with a Demon Beast of a higher quality, it was incredibly difficult for a Demon Spiritualist to continue their cultivation. The amount of work it would take to get from a single star Silver rank to two stars Silver rank was nearly twice as hard as getting to the Silver rank in the first place if you didn't merge with a Demon Spirit of at least Gold rank. And yet, in defiance of expectations, Ichigo's power continued to passively grow at an astonishing rate without having ever merged with a Demon Beast, entering the Gold rank and not showing any sign of slowing down.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to hide Ichigo's talent forever. Once he was thirteen he would be sent with all the other children to school to train to fight, since in Glory City, everyone was required to learn how to fight in some capacity. He wouldn't be able to hide himself in a place like that. But she could at least give him an honest childhood until then.

Moving the last of the pancakes onto the stack, Jian Yue lifted her baby girl off the stool and sent her to go and find her brother. He was probably doing some kind of morning exercise somewhere. While he never could be seen meditating, it wasn't uncommon for him to be spotted doing some kind of physical training. When Jian Yue asked him about it, he told her that he had to be strong enough to protect her and Ning'er.

It was just so cute, the way he acted like he was the man of the house.

* * *

Ichigo tried his best to steady his arms and let out a deep breath, the same way they always said to in the moves before pulling down on the trigger. The mechanical crossbow fired with a loud snap, sending the practice bolt flying across the miniature range and causing Ichigo to stagger a bit from the recoil from a crossbow that was as large as his entire body.

He could only give a growl of frustration when the arrow spun off and barely hit the target's outer rim. Not as bad as some of his shots, but when compared to the feats he had seen in his pervious life, it was obvious to him that he wasn't going to hit anything with such poor accuracy.

 _"Man King, you really suck at this."_ Zangetsu said as he watched Ichigo's failed attempts at learning to use a crossbow. Ichigo pulled hard on the bow string, resetting it and putting on another bolt. This shot didn't even make it to the target and was logged in the ground a few feet away. _"Here I thought Quincies were supposed to be naturals with a bow. Turns out you're just a natural failure with one."_

Ichigo gritted his teeth, determined to ignore the Zanpakuto spirit's insults and continue to practice. Sadly, he wasn't as much of a natural with a bow or crossbow as he had been with a sword.

All Soul Reaper techniques, from Hakuda all the way up to Kidou, used the body as a medium for building up and transferring Spirit Energy. But with his eight-year-old body, if Ichigo had tried to use those skill, he would only succeed in tearing his body to pieces. He needed a different means of using his Soul Power, which was why he figured he would try his hand at Quincy skills. Too bad he had no talent for them. Everything from footing to muscle movement was so different from his swordsmanship that archery felt unnatural to him.

 _"Just give it up King. By the time you're good enough to fight using that crossbow, you'll have grown old enough to pick up a proper weapon again."_ Zangetsu said as Ichigo tried to adjust his footing again.

 _"Is much as I disagree with that 'proper weapon' comment, he is correct."_ The Old Man said. _"While the Quincy arts provide an outlet for your strength, you aren't going to learn it in time for it to be of any use to you."_

"And what am I supposed to do then? Just sit back and wait for something to happen?" Ichigo said bitterly as he pulled back on the crossbow's string again and notched an arrow. "The world is shit, and it isn't going to wait for me to become old enough before dropping that crap on me." The arrow flew, again barely managing to hit the target. "If I sit around and wait, I'll just end up losing people again." The Soul Puppets went silent as they felt Ichigo emotions. Even in a new life, the lose of his first mother weighed heavy on him.

Finally, Zangetsu scoffed. _"You're really as stupid and helpless as a child again, aren't you? You talk about protecting them, but all I hear in your voice is fear."_ The Zanpakuto spirit's words caught Ichigo off guard. _"'When you protect someone, you don't let them die.' Isn't that how it is supposed to be? If you are going to do this, stop worrying about whether or not it will be enough. Just do it!"_

Ichigo looked down at the crossbow in his hands and reflected on what Zangetsu had just said.

He was right, every time Ichigo had pulled the trigger, he had been afraid. Afraid of missing, and afraid of what the missed shot represented. His fear clouded his mind. It unsteadied his arms. It was pointless.

Notching another arrow, Ichigo glared at the target. "What is there to doubt? When I fire the arrow, it will hit." He said as he hoisted up the crossbow yet again. Zangetsu and the Old Man would have smirked, if they had lips capable of it, when they saw Ichigo's eyes glow blue with his Soul Force. The arrow's tip shined a bright blue just as Ichigo pulled the trigger.

The arrow landed in the dead center of the target before passing straight through the canvas and form target and striking the stone wall behind it, cracking the stone as the wooden shaft of the arrow burst into pieces.

 _"Well done, Ichigo."_ The Old Man said, though Zangetsu only scoffed.

"That was amazing!" Ning'er shouted, letting her presence be known. Ichigo hadn't noticed when she had snuck up on him while he was practicing. He kicked himself, less because of any sort of need to keep the young girl in the dark, than because he was letting himself become complacent.

Ning'er wouldn't tell anyone about how powerful her brother was. Less because of an understanding of it being a secret than because she didn't really have anyone to tell it to. She rarely was allowed outside of the family grounds, and the only other children around her own age, other than Ichigo himself, were from different factions within the clan and as such kept separate from each other. The only time Ning'er was allowed to interact with other kids was at the occasional social party when the other Clan head bring their own kids. The only person who could maybe be counted as her friend was the City Lord's daughter who she played with whenever there was a party at the City Lord's Mansion. Ichigo had never met the girl, couldn't even recall her name, but Ning'er seemed to like her.

As for telling any of the adults, she never talked in front of them. Because of their constant insistence on forcing her to act like a noblewoman, and Ichigo's own tendency to glare at the elders whenever they were around, Ning'er had adopted her own cold, blank expression that she would put on whenever they were around.

Not that the old farts could tell the difference between a cold look of indifference from a look of obedience, and they never bothered to look at Ichigo or else they would have seen his much more aggressive icy glare.

It was only when she was alone with Ichigo, their mother, and some of the servants that Ning'er acted like her real, cheerful, kind self, rather than that doll that the Clan wanted to make her.

"Big brother, teach me how to use a bow like that." Ning'er demanded in that way that young children often do.

Ichigo couldn't help but smile, seeing his little sister's stubborn, childish nature shining through. "Maybe once you get a little older." Ichigo said patting the girl on the head.

"Wha!? But I want to learn now!" Ning'er pouted. "Please! I promise I'll listen closely!"

Ichigo gave a weak chuckle, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this. "Alright fine then." Ichigo said, handing the crossbow over to his sister. "The first thing you are going to need to do is draw the arrow mount back until it clicks into place." He explained, pointing towards the metal plate attached the to spring.

Ning'er nodded, grabbing onto the plate and starting to try to pull it back. She tugged at it again and again, pulling as hard as she could until she went blue in the face, but she didn't manage to get it more than an inch back before the crossbow pulled the mount back to its original position. Ning'er gave a cute squeal of frustration and Ichigo struggled not to laugh.

"Don't worry. It will be easy once you get a bit bigger. I'll teach you then, I promise." Ichigo said in an attempt to placate his little sister.

"As if you know jack shit about archery anyways." Zangetsu scoffed. "Lands one shot and he thinks he's fucking Robinhood."

Ning'er glared down at the crossbow in her hand before holding it out to her brother, grumbling under her breath. "I need to drink more milk." Then, seemingly remembering something, she perked up and grabbed Ichigo's arm. "Oh right, big brother, breakfast is ready. It will get cold if we don't hurry. Come on, come on!"

* * *

"Ning'er slow down or you're going to choke." Jian Yue said as her little girl finished downing her second cup of milk.

"But I've got to drink lots of milk if I want to get as strong as big brother." Xiao Ning'er said, as she put the cup down, revealing a white milk mustache.

"Alright, but if you drink to quickly you are going to get the hiccups." Jian Yue giggled as she took a napkin and cleaned up the girl's face.

"No I *hiccup* won't…" Ning'er said before giving a pout. Jian Yue wanted to squeal in delight at the cuteness of it.

"*giggle* Well, speaking of growing up big and strong, its time to take your elixirs." Jian Yue said pushing forward the glass bottle that contain the 'Body Fortifying Elixirs' that the clan had provided for Ning'er.

Ichigo's mouth twitched at the mention of the pills.

'Body Fortifying Elixirs' was basically a pretentious way of saying 'growth hormone stimulants'. The same kind of thing that they fed cows in his old world. It was commonly believed that an individual's training was most effective from the time they started puberty till they are around forty. Because of this, noble family bought drugs in order to hasten their children's development in an attempt to give them the most time possible to train to become as strong as possible.

Or that was the idea. In reality, there wasn't that much difference between training for twenty-seven and twenty-eight years. It merely gave the noble children a year's advantage over the less privileged children of the same age group. The amount of money that went into the bragging rights was downright embarrassing.

Ichigo didn't care about any of the politics of it, but he did worry about the elixirs themselves. He knew from his previous life that using hormone enhancers can cause weird side effects. It wasn't because of training or good breading that male Demon Spiritualists from the noble families tended to be over seven feet tall and have arms like tree trunks, or that the women were all tall with long legs and gigantic bosoms. Ichigo personally suspected that some of their overly aggressive, or perhaps down right obsessive, behavior was because of abnormal hormone levels effecting their brains.

Actually, there were a good number of drugs, or 'elixirs', taken in order to enhance performance while training, all of it given to children and all without any care about the possible consequences of giving them to a still growing mind and body.

Normally, children would take these pills from when they were around eight or nine until they were eleven or twelve, but the Winged Dragon clan was starting Ning'er on them early, because of their own hope that she would prove to be a strong heir for the clan.

Ning'er own face fell at the sight of the small green pill. "Do I have too." She whined weakly.

"Now sweetie, the Elders are just trying to give you every advantage they can. These elixirs are going to help you grow up quicker." Jian Yue said, trying to persuade her daughter to eat it. Ning'er still made a face. "Tell you what. If you take it like a good little girl, that mommy will put some ice cream on your pancakes."

Ning'er face immediately brightened up. "Okay." She said, taking the pill and quickly washing it down with some of her milk. It was a weekly routine, Ning'er not wanting to take her medicine and her mother bribing her into taking it with ice cream. Or so Jian Yue thought.

As the mother got up from the table to go and fetch Ning'er's treat, the little girl spit the pill back out into her hand and held it under the table. "Come on Yang, take it." Ning'er whispered, trying to get Zangetsu's attention.

The white Soul Puppet got up and went over to the little girl, taking the pill in his mouth before leaving the dinning room to go out into the garden where he would bury the pill along with all the other ones. Ichigo snorted before trying to control himself, not wanting to reveal to their mother what Ning'er had really been doing with the elixirs.

Was Ichigo a bad influence? That was a matter of perspective.

Ning'er didn't need to hide her smile, as she had plenty to smile about when their mother returned with a short stack of pancakes covered in ice cream. The little girl gave a squeal of delight as she started to dig in.

The scene was peaceful and happy. Just the three of them there together. It was enough for them to forget that the majority of the human population was all huddled behind a giant wall, too afraid of the monsters outside to risk going far beyond the outer rim of the city. All of it seemed like someone else's problem as they sat comfortably inside of the more than modest home that was provided for them.

That is, until the sound of the gongs penetrated their peaceful place.

Jian Yue and Ichigo froze as the loud, reverberating gongs sounded again and again. "Mommy, what's that noise?" Xiao Ning'er asked, confused by the sudden sound. Neither Ichigo nor Jian Yue answered, as they tried to will the sound out of existence. But it was no use, the reality that had seemed so far away just moments ago was now crashing back down on them.

A Demon Hord was approaching Glory City.

* * *

 **I'm trying to take things slow and weave in most of the ideas and events for people who have never read Tales of Gods and Demons, as well as offer a new perspective of events and groups for people who have read it.**


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